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Reform's Essex council set to deploy private security guards in three towns over asylum seeker safety fears

Norfolk Police reported officers faced "significant aggression" across three nights of Thetford disorder, including one struck by a thrown stone, one bitten, and one spat at in the face.
Norfolk Police reported officers faced "significant aggression" across three nights of Thetford disorder, including one struck by a thrown stone, one bitten, and one spat at in the face.
Peter Harris has warned he will "not sit on his hands and wait for the next incident" as the Home Office prepares to expand Wethersfield's single male asylum population by 50 per cent to 1,245.
Peter Harris has warned he will "not sit on his hands and wait for the next incident" as the Home Office prepares to expand Wethersfield's single male asylum population by 50 per cent to 1,245.

Essex County Council leader Peter Harris has warned the induction process for migrants at the former RAF Wethersfield base is "woefully inadequate" on British cultural norms and behaviour toward women and girls. The Reform-run council is set to launch Operation Vanguard, stationing two guards each in Braintree, Colchester and Chelmsford as the Home Office prepares to expand Wethersfield's capacity from 800 to 1,245 male asylum seekers. The three-month trial will cost £150,000 from a community improvement fund, with further spending required if extended. Harris said the council would not "sit on our hands and wait for the next incident."

The Home Office has stated that offending in nearby town centres cannot be attributed to asylum seekers at the site, with no data pointing to a rise in such behaviour.

Labour has accused Reform of preparing to spend taxpayers' money on "gesture politics", noting the guards will have no more powers than an ordinary member of the public.

Essex County Council has acknowledged in its own decision paper that guards "will have no more powers to take any action than a member of the public" and all law enforcement will need to be led by Essex Police.

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